Valentine's Day
by Cosette 24601
Summary: Susan has tried her best to move on in our world, a successful job, a steady relationship, and generally finds happiness in her life. But when the love of her life leaves her a card saying he knows about Narnia, she is fearful of what exactly he may or may not think he knows.
1. The Note

**Two Valentine's Days ago, a reviewer was disappointed that on my story that teased Susan meeting someone new in England that it turned out to be Caspian rather than her actually meeting someone in our world. Here's a new story in which she truly does mean a completely new character. This will be a short but multi-chaptered story, probably 3-4 chapters.  
**

"I know about Narnia."

At just those four words, her hands trembled. She dropped the Valentine's Day card those fateful words were written on in beautiful calligraphy as she stared numbly in shock. Trembling, she bent down to pick it up again, rereading as though the words might suddenly change. But of course they did not. It was plainly written there.

She picked up the two white roses – whose thorns had been lovingly shorn off – and red poppies that had come with the card and walked inside, her mind abuzz with confusion. She had tried to put every last aspect of Narnia behind her. Aslan had instructed them to live in their own world, barring Narnia from them, and she intended to do just that. She had a steady job. Perhaps she was not as suited to it as she had taken to being Narnia's queen, but she had made quite a successful career for herself as a consultant. Rather than the "Friends of Narnia" nonsense, she had found Aslan in this world through her ladies' group at the local Church, spending her weekends as an event coordinator for various charity events. It was at one of those very events where she had met him.

"Peter?" Susan called as she entered. "David sent me a…Valentine's card…"

"That's a day early," was Peter's only comment.

"Hmmm. He wrote something interesting on it," Susan prompted.

"What? What sort of interesting?" Peter interrogated, instantly. He quickly did the math in his head. Susan and David had meet about five years ago, when Susan had been running a charity auction to raise money. They got together so quickly that Peter hadn't even known David before the day Susan brought him over, insisting she would not date any man her siblings didn't approve of.

Peter had been surprised at that and questioned Susan in private. She laughed and responded, "It's about setting a precedence, you know? So that if you or Ed or Lu ever date anyone I dislike, I have the right to say something about it." Because of course she would have ulterior motives like that. But as David seemed amicable towards the family, was a fairly successful accountant already, and did seem to be genuinely interested in Susan, no one objected. In fact, Peter had become decent friends with him, although neither of them would have made the same effort if they hadn't had Susan in common. But almost five years of dating. That would be more than enough time for him to ask the question. Peter genuinely hoped that was not the case yet. As distant as Susan had become, she did still live with them and was just as integral to their family as she had ever been.

"You told him about Narnia?" Susan finally accused, after staring at Peter's vacant face.

"Wait, what?" Peter said, taken aback.

"This. See here!" Susan insisted, opening the card and shoving it into his hands.

Peter quickly scanned the short message. "What the Tash?" he gasped. "How- I swear, I didn't say anything."

"Then Lucy or Ed must have," she frowned. As Peter was the only one to actually become decently close friends with David, she had assumed he would have been the one to tell. Not to mention, Peter had been rather pushy about her denials of Narnia.

"I…I guess. I would have thought they would have said something to me about it first though," Peter frowned, just as confused. "Or, could he have overheard something?"

"I…I guess he could have. I…I don't even want to know what horrid thing he might think of us then. That we're all delusional? Should be locked up in an insane asylum?" Susan said, her voice rising as her hands gesticulated wildly.

Peter gently caught her hands to calm her down . "Hey..hey…hey. Susan. Look at what he said. And how he said it. He sent you a _Valentine's Day_ card. He clearly isn't about to send a card to someone he's planning on locking up," he soothed.

"Right. Right… Right. What am I supposed to do now?" she panicked.

"Talk to him? Find out what it is he knows and how?" Peter suggested, equally at a lost. "I can talk with Lu and Ed for you."

"Thanks. They…if I talked to them about Narnia, they would be all over me again," Susan sighed.

"And…what…what would you tell them then?" Peter pressed, wondering what Susan's mind was about Narnia currently, but not wanting her to clam up again.

Susan gave him a rueful smile, quite aware of what he was doing. "I…I know it was real. It did happen. But it's not real anymore. Not to us. We're in this world…I want to live it. And…I really, really liked David."

"Past tense?" Peter picked up.

"I…I just don't want Narnia to interfere with my life. Not when that avenue is closed to me forever," she said quietly, pressing her lips together. "Better…better to forget it even existed."

After a long, pregnant pause, Peter said, "I'll talk to Ed and Lu when they get back for you."

"Thanks," Susan said quietly as she picked up one of the white roses, twirling it between her fingers. "I…I should call David. See if…See if we still have plans for Valentine's Day."

"I'm sure you do," Peter said reassuringly. "He's very obviously in love with you. And still seems stunned that you're interested in him."

"Oh, really, Peter," Susan blushed as she left to the phone. After what felt like an eternity but was likely just a few seconds, he picked up. "Ah, David? I…I … ah…got your card."

"Sorry it's a bit early for the holiday. I simply couldn't wait. I suppose this means I'll just have to buy you a second card for the actual day," he said smoothly.

"Ah, yes, about that…" Susan began, clearing her throat. "How…ah…what…what was that message about? Have you…ah…been talking with my siblings?"

"We should talk in person tomorrow," he said softly, much to Susan's dismay. "When we go to Hyde Park. I feel speaking in person may be more useful?"

"Ah, yes, of course," Susan agreed, her heart pounding and phone shaking in her trembling, pale hands.

"See you then, love?" he said so softly that Susan felt a bit more at ease. While she still fretted he might think her or her siblings mad, she at least knew he still called her love. After spending so much time on him, she hadn't even realized how emotionally invested she was. With him, she felt whole again, much like she did when she was Queen Susan the Gentle during the Golden Ages.

"Of course. I …I love you," she attempted, desperate to hear the words. He had been the first to say them, much on accident when they slipped out as a joke after she had saved an event his firm had been putting on which had been a disaster until Susan interfered. But as soon as he had said it, he couldn't help but mean them. Ever the cautious one, that was the first time Susan kissed him on the lips even though they had been dating for a year.

"I love you too," he said easily, not joking in the slightest this time. "See you tomorrow."

She hung up, her heart pounding. When she returned to the kitchen, she realized that Edmund and Lucy must have returned and Peter had filled them in as they all stared at her. She froze, not wanting a confrontation. She was about to flee when Lucy began speaking.

"We didn't say anything," Lucy began, much to Susan's surprise.

"About Narnia?" Susan confirmed.

"Yeah. We're not that stupid. Plus, we like him. We wouldn't want to chase him off," Edmund offered. "And not sure how Eustace or Jill would have. She's never met him, and they're both off at that awful boarding school right now."

"So what? The Professor or Miss Plummer suddenly decided to destroy my love life?" Susan asked caustically.

"Su, no one's fighting you on this. We all think letting others know about Narnia is…tricky at best," Peter began.

"Narnia, which _does_ exist," Lucy interjected, giving Susan a significant look which Susan did not deign to respond to.

"Anyways, if there's anything we can do to help," Peter finished.

"Give me a ride tomorrow to Strand station? I'll take the Tube from there," Susan reassured.

"Of course," Peter agreed.

"And if he wants to speak about Narnia with us," Lucy began until Edmund anxiously made gestures for her to keep quiet.

Susan stiffened, rather horrified by the idea. "Rather not when it's probably already your fault he likely overheard any of your many indiscreet mentions of those silly games," she hissed, fearful at the idea of losing David simply for a country she already knew she'd never return to.

"Silly games!" Edmund protested.

"Yes, and once I settle this with David, I want to not hear a single word about it again, do you understand?" Susan said hotly, desperate to have Narnia behind her. She whirled out before they could respond so that they could not see the cold tears splashing down her face.


	2. Valentine's Day

David paced anxiously back and forth, wondering if Susan was going to come or not. Two kindly ladies, complete strangers to him, had already stopped to ask him if everything was quite alright to which he lied of course it was, thank you very much. But of course it wasn't. He could only hope that once he spoke with Susan, some Valentine's Day miracle would make it be. Somehow, he highly doubted that.

He spotted her prim, red-trimmed hat in the crowd and pushed through to find her. "If it isn't the most beautiful queen in any world," he whispered in her ear, realizing she hadn't yet seen him.

While he had hoped those words might surprise her, he hardly expected that she would jump and shriek at those words. "Oh, its… it's just you," she said, a hand at her chest.

"Of course," he said, puzzled.

"I…let's go somewhere less crowded. I've never been found of crowds," she said, taking him by the arm to find somewhere deeper into the park where they might have some semblance of privacy.

"So…ah…Narnia…" she began awkwardly as they sat across from each other, air so thick with tension Rhindon would be required to cut it.

"Yes…Is it real?" he asked.

"Narnia? How…how do you know about it?" Susan pressed, fearful of the response.

"You're going to thick I'm crazy," he said, shaking his head.

Susan couldn't help giggling wildly.

"What?" he asked, somewhat offended.

"That _you're_ crazy? I've been worried all weekend that you may have heard something that would make you think I'm crazy," she said, barely able to speak through the laughter.

"I…I suppose that would make sense. I…I'll just come out and say it. A lion talked to me in my dreams," he blurted out.

Susan paused. "Aslan?" she whispered to herself, thinking herself inaudible.

Nevertheless, he heard her and responded, "Y-Yes, that's what he called himself. Is that his name then? I just knew it was Turkish for lion."

"Is it? Strange. There's no language like Turkish there," Susan said, her mind grasping onto random bits and pieces of facts in this confusing conversation.

"So there really is a there? Another world as the lion told me?" David said, leaning forward.

"Yes. We…we lived there for many, many years the first time. Then the second time, only long enough to win a war and then Peter and I were told we were never to return. Lucy and Ed did, but then they too were told the same thing. So I vowed to never think or speak of it again, as that very lion, the Lion, he told us we couldn't. So why…why would he appear to you now?"

"Because he…he said…he said you're to …" David said, beginning to choke.

"What? What did he say this time?" Susan cursed, feeling the same anger she had felt at Aslan many times before, wondering yet again if he found some sick fascination at playing with their lives.

"He says…there will be a train crash. And once dead, you'd be dead to this world, but not there. I…I'll still be here though. With7out you," he confessed, reaching his hands towards Susan's.

"Aslan's going to kill me?" Susan said, an angry bout of tears threatening to burst at any moment.

"He more made it seem like you and your family would be happy. To return …home," he said, the word sounding bitter.

"He instructed us to live our lives here," Susan said, shaking her head. "Why? Why the moment I finally…finally am so close to be able to fully live in this world, he yanks it away?"

"You don't want to leave?" David said, his heart souring. He quickly shot it down, afraid to get his hopes up. As much as he loved Susan and he hoped she loved him, he could never see her picking him over her family. And he had heard whispers of Narnia before, but had never put much stake in them until now. He knew it was something important to her family but had thought it anything more than maybe a game they had played in their youth that they still loved but were a bit embarrassed by. It wasn't until the lion that he realized it was more than that.

"No. I mean, I think not. I was angry when we first left Narnia and couldn't get back. We had a built a life there. We had built a kingdom even. But now, I've built a career, I've built a life, I want to live _here_ ," she said, frustrated. After a thought though, she said, "But my family won't want that. They've still been trying to live in Narnia, even though we're all barred from it."

"So you are…you're happy here?" David said, his heart threatening to soar again.

Susan smiled and scooted towards him so she could reach across to place her hand on his knee. "Very."

He placed his hand over hers, smiling. "I love you so much, Su."

"Can you give me a ride home? Apparently I should avoid trains for awhile," Susan half-teased.

"I think you just need to avoid trains with your siblings. He didn't just mean you. He meant all of you," David said. "But…really? You would give that up? I…I didn't know it was something real, but I had heard bits a pieces. It seemed important."

"It…it was. But it doesn't need us anymore. But I think my siblings still need it, even though Aslan said we didn't," she mused.

"What do you need?" David asked gently.

"I…I've always needed my family but…Now I realize, I need them to be happy. That's all. And that's where they'll be happy. And we don't need each other, just to know that everyone is safe and happy. Which they'd be under Aslan's paws in Narnia," she mused.

"And you? Would you be happy there?" David pressed.

"Would you be happy if I was?" Susan returned.

"That doesn't matter," David urged.

"Yes, it does. Could I be happy in Narnia again? I presume so. I was furious to be back in England, but I rebuilt and am happy with my life. I could do the same in Narnia. But not if you are unhappy."

"I'll survive," he promised. "As long as I know you're happy."

"That's not what I asked," Susan said softly, kissing his cheek. She enunciated, "Could you be happy?"

"I…I love you," was all he managed to say. He knew answering her question straight would only hurt her, and he didn't want to be the reason she was torn.

"Then I can't be happy there, knowing you'd be unhappy," Susan said, reaching for his chin and kissing him. He leaned into it, placing his arms around her to pull her in close. He wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but he wouldn't refuse her. Before he was ready to pull back, Susan pulled away. "I have something I need to do."

"You're leaving? So soon?" he said, dismayed. "It's Valentine's Day!"

"I know but…this…this is a lot to take in."

David was hurt, but he simply nodded and helped her pack up. "Where to?" he asked.

"A church. Aslan's talked to me there before. Not often. Well, often, but usually in the way one usually hears Jesus as they pray. But sometimes even more directly," she mused.

David was dying to ask what is was she needed to speak with Aslan about. But he knew Susan well enough to know that if she wanted him to know, she would have given the reason. They walked silently to the first Church they could find, sneaking in quietly when they realized that a service was going on.

Susan closed her eyes, hoping he might speak to her. _Aslan…please…Aslan…I need you this time. More than ever._

To her surprise, he answered. She spoke with him, and then she knew what she must do.


	3. Til Death Do We Part

**This is the end of this short story! Sorry - not sorry - to those of you upset by that last cliffhanger. Almost uploaded this one in sections with an even crueler cliffhanger, but then decided probably better together :P**

"Do you, David Hann, take this woman to be your wife?" the minister intoned.

"I do," he said sincerely.

"And do you, Susan Pevensie, take this man to be your husband?"

"I do."

Within a week of her life being turned around, Susan was married to the man she loved. And the most important bit, her siblings were there to see it. Her siblings, who were soon to return to the fantasy homeland they loved so. Simply knowing they would be happy there was enough for her.

And as her siblings watched the happy couple, they thought much the same thing. David would make Susan happy. And now that Susan had told them of what David had learned and what Susan had learned from praying with Aslan, they were content. Narnia was their home, England was Susan's home. And seeing David and Susan together, they knew that even if Susan might feel lonely without them, she would have a shoulder to cry on and would never truly be alone

Her siblings were bustling about after news came from Narnia. Some strange Narnian king had appeared to them. While they knew it wouldn't be long before they died and returned to Narnia, who knew how much time could pass in Narnia until then? They went to find the Rings so that Eustace and Jill – the only two to whom which Narnia was not barred, may return and save the day. Susan stayed out of it. They didn't particularly need her help with it. But she made sure to go to the train with them, to say her last goodbyes.

As the train whistled, Susan grabbed David's hand ready to leave, with one last look back at her siblings.

To her confusion, his grip on her tightened, not letting her leave.

"Are you sure this is what you want? It's your last chance," he urged.

"David, we have to go!" Susan insisted. "It could happen any moment."

"Susan…if you had never met me, what choice would you make?" David attempted.

Susan panicked, not sure. That was all David needed. He knew her. She needed to leave with her family, not stay here with him. As the train rounded around the corner, he pushed her onto the tracks. He realized that with the security officers around to see him push his wife to her death, he was bound to be imprisoned for life. Who would believe his story? And maybe, just maybe if he jumped now he might too be with her. With nothing but blind faith that this would somehow be better than staying behind, he jumped just in time for the train to hit him too.

* * *

Everything was still. The tracks beneath her tickled like…grass? Susan shot up. Grass…they weren't at a train station, they were on a beautiful field. It was certainly more glorious than England. Perhaps even more so that Narnia. Beside her, David lay on the ground, still as death. She crawled to him, shaking his side.

"David? David!" she cried out. To her relief, his eyes fluttered open.

"W-What? Where are we?" he stammered.

"I think Narnia," she said, biting her lip as she looked around. A small distance away, she could see five other figures. And a…a door? To nowhere? "David, come!"

He dutifully got up and followed her as she ran, desperate to see if they were her siblings or not.

"Susan!" Lucy shouted, seeing her first.

"You…you stayed too long at the train station?" Peter said, worried that this might make Susan's heart bitter for having this forced on her.

"No, David…He kept me there," Susan said. "By asking me what I would have chose without him. Which would have been Narnia."

"But you're here," Edmund commented to David who was still thoroughly dazed by what was going on here.

Suddenly a cat came in the door and Tash appeared out of nowhere. The cat screeched and scatted back out the door.

"Wh-what?" David said weakly. Even though he had believed in Aslan and Narnia very easily, it was quite another thing to see such strange magic with his own eyes.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," Peter shrugged.

"That's Tash. The demons the Calormenes worship. It was all over Calormen when we – er – visited," Edmund said, with a not-so-subtle glance at Susan. "But no clue why it would be here."

"David, why did you do it?" Susan said, more concerned with speaking with him than she was with the bird demons and screeching cats. "Why did you jump?"

"To be honest? Didn't fancy life in jail, branded as a wife-murderer," he said. "And I thought maybe there might be a chance then at seeing you again. Weighed a slim chance and a certain chance of imprisonment, and well, the odds were in my favor."

"But why did you push me? When we could have been in London together?" Susan asked. "You didn't know this would happen. You had a happy life there. And what's your family going to think?"

"Probably what a nuisance it was that I didn't leave an organized will. The only one who would care is Mother, and she can hardly recognize me anymore. I'm not close with my family as you are with yours. In fact, I feel closer to your family than I do mine. And now its official that we're all family through are marriage. Better for both of us to be with this family."

"I love you so much," Susan said fervently, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him.

"Um, hi there," Peter said.

Annoyed, Susan pulled away from David, thinking the comment was him reminding them that they were there watching and didn't want to see that. But no, it was to a Calormene who had presumably entered through the door who was now wandering about searching aimlessly for Tash.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," David said, his eyes wide.

"Still sure you made the right decision? Things in Narnia can get very, very strange. Deathly strange," Susan warned.

"Absolutely," David vowed, hugging her tightly as they sealed that vow with a kiss.


End file.
